Oil-lubricated guide bearing



g- 6. 1940. R. A. BAUDRY 2,210,700

OIL LUBRICATED GUIDE HEARING Filed June 30, 1939 02'! Lei/e] WITNESSES: INVENTOR Z/ Et /26 ABaL/dry. BY MM ATTORNEY Patented Aug 6, 1940 OFFI OIL-LUBRICATED GUIDE BEARING Pennsylvania Application June 30, 1939, Serial No. 282,165

3 Claims.

My invention relates to oil-lubricated guide bearings for vertical-shaft machines. It was particularly designed for such bearings for vertical-shaft synchronous motors in the speedrange from 600 to 1806 revolutions per minute,

and in size from 200 to- 1000 horsepower, al-

though the invention is obviously not limited to application to these particular machines.

The principal object of the invention is to reduce the amount of foam which is produced by the high-speed rotation of the shaft-collar. ihis foam has heretofore formed on top of the oil and constituted quite a problem because of its tendency to rise up over the oil and creep out, as an oily film, over the surface of the machine, resulting not only in loss of oil, but damage to the electrical insulation, This foam is produced by air which is sucked in under the lower peripheral edge of a depending annular flange of the shaft collar, the air being sucked in because of the centrifugal movement of the oil due to the rotation of the collar.

My invention particularly relates to the provision of guard-means for checking the aforesaid formation of foam at its source.

The accompanying drawing is a cross-sectional view illustrating my invention in somewhat diagrammatic form, for the purpose of illustrating 1 the principles of the invention, without attempting to complicate the drawing by showing the precise details of the fabricated structure.

The invention is shown applied to a machine having a vertical rotating shaft l to which is firmly secured a collar 2 which has a depending annular flange 3 which is spaced from the shaft 5. The depending annular flange 3 has a cylindrical outer surface 4 which constitutes the journal portion of the guide bearing which constitutes the source of my present invention. A stationary bracket 5 is also provided, said bracket including an annular oil-reservoir, or so-called oilpan 6, into which the rotating, depending, an nular flange 3 extends, the oil-level being indicated by thenunieral i. The annular oil-reservoir 5 has an inner cylindrical wall 8 which is disposed between the shaft and the depending annular flange 3 in spaced relation to both of these parts.

The depending annular flange 3 is journaled in a stationary bearing-member S which is secured to a plurality of blocks H which are carried by the stationary bracket It will be noted that the stationary bearing-member 9, like the depending annular flange 8, is partially immersed in the oil 1 in the reservoir '5. The inner cylindrical bearing-portion of the stationary bearing- I member 8 is babbitted, as indicated at 52, and is provided, at its bore, with upwardly extending oil-grooves i3 which start atthe lower end of the bearing-member at and terminate short of the upper end thereof, so as to leave an inner cylindrical bearing-portion M which is substantially unbroken at all points around the journal, for a reason which will be explained hereinafter, the usual construction heretofore having been to have the oil-grooves l3 extend all the way through, to the top of the stationary bearingmember. I

In carrying out my invention, I also provide a substantially unbroken annular guard-member !5 which is tightly secured to the bottom end of the stationary bearing-member 9, and this guardmember is provided with a substantially unbroken, inwardly-extending annular flange it which is spaced from both the inner cylindrical wall 8 of the annular oil-reservoir t-8 and the bottom end of the depending rotating annular flange 3. y

In operation, the rotation of the depending, annular flange 3 also causes the contacted portions of the oil to rotate, forcing the oil radially outwardly, in a horizontal direction, away from the shaft, by reason of centrifugal force, resulting in pulling down the oil level, within the circumference of the depending annular flange 3, to practically the bottom of this flange, as indicated at IT. At this point ii, and immediately underneath the bottom end of the rotating depending annular flange 3, the oil is rotating, and also moving radially or spirally outwardly, by reason of centrifugal force.

In the prior art, when my annular guardmember l5 was not provided, this centrifuged oil would move outwardly in an oil-whirl such as is indicated by the crossed-out arrows l8, carrying with it air bubbles, from the inner oilsurface ii, and discharging these bubbles in the form of foam, which appeared mostly at the top oil-level I, from which point the oil-foam would build up and up, until it crept out over the top of the stationary bracket 5, passing up between the bracket and the shaft-collar t. In the previous constructions, in which the oil-grooves 13 passed all the way up through, to the top of the stationary bearing-member 9, some of this oilfoam, caused by air bubbles entrapped in the oilwhirl, would also pass up vertically through the open oil-grooves between the stationary bearingrnember 9 and the rotating journal-surface 4.

In accordance with my invention, however, the

guard-member I5 is provided, so as to form a substantially unbroken ring around, and under the bottom end of, the rotating depending annular flange 3, producing a localized oil-whirl, within this restricted space, as indicated by the arrows l 8, thus being confined between the bearing and the guard. The foam is thus kept on the surface I! of the rotating oil, and is broken'by the centrifugal force as soon as it is formed, so that it is practically impossible for it to reach the upper oil-level l where it used to accumulate heretofore. It will also be understood, from the foregoing explanation, that the closure of the tops of the oil-grooves I3, as indicated at M in my drawing, also cooperates, in an important manner, with my annular guard-member I 5, to limit the upward flow of oil which is carried upwardly by the oil-grooves 13, so as to prevent the oil-foam or bubbles from being carried up by the grooves ii to the extreme top of the stationary bearing-member 9. After much experimentation on various means for combating the problem of foaming, in oil-lubricated guide bearings for highspeed vertical-shaft machines, I have found that this problem is very effectively solved by my hereinabove-described invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. An oil-lubricated guide bearing for a vertical-shaft machine comprising, in combination, a collar carried by the shaft, said collar having a depending annular flange spaced from the shaft and having a cylindrical outer surface constituting the journal portion of the bearing, a stationary bracket including an annular oilreservoir into which said depending annular flange extends, said annular oil-reservoir having an inner cylindrical wall disposed between said shaft and said depending annular flange in spaced relation to both, a stationary bearingmember in which said depending annular flange is journaled, said stationary bearing-member being carried by the stationary bracket and being at least partially immersed in the oil in said reservoir, and a substantially unbroken annular guard-member carried by the bottom end of the stationary bearing-member and having a substantially unbroken inwardly extending annular flange which is spaced from both the inner cylindrical wall of said annular oil-reservoir and bottom end of said depending annular flange.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, characterized by said stationary bearing-member having an inner cylindrical bearing-surface portion which is substantially unbroken at all points around the journal.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1, characterized by said stationary bearing-member having an inner cylindrical bearing-surface portion which is provided with upwardly extending grooves starting at the lower end of said bearingmember and terminating short of the upper end thereof.

RENE A. BAUDRY. 

